Many commercial and industrial industries utilize batteries to backup critical systems in the event of a power failure. Stationary batteries may be used for such a purpose. When power disruptions occur, the batteries employed by those in the commercial or industrial sectors are typically the first line of defense to prevent potentially devastating power disruptions to certain systems. Data associated with various battery parameters may be monitored to ensure that in the event of a power outage, the batteries will be ready for use in providing the power requirements for such systems. Thus, there are systems designed for the monitoring of the various parameters associated with batteries used in a system. These systems may be configured to collect data and interpret this data to ensure that the battery systems are properly maintained.
Conventional battery monitoring systems were configured to monitor stationary batteries using the battery monitoring technology that was deployed in the field, such as, for example, at the stationary battery site. These battery monitors included both hardware and software that was configured specifically for a given manufacturer's products. The majority of these functions are performed using an automatic, unattended capability. Measurements may be made automatically while the battery systems are on-line. These measurements and the methodologies employed by various algorithms for battery monitors varied across manufacturers. While these prior art systems permitted automatic review of a user's batteries, thereby substantially reducing the need for a manual battery monitoring routine, the data collected by such systems needed to be manually analyzed. Some exemplary data that is collected by traditional battery monitoring systems included, for example, voltage of cells, voltage of battery groups, or voltage of battery strings may be measured and recorded. Additionally, the current or battery AC or DC charge may be measured and recorded. Furthermore, parameters such as ambient temperature, cell or battery temperature, interconnection resistance, and internal resistance measurements may also be taken and recorded.
Some exemplary stationary battery systems include, for example, computer centers, telecommunication operations, smart facilities, process control, manufacturing operations, and other critical applications. Monitoring the batteries associated with the back-up power supplies in these systems may be costly and time consuming. Monitoring the battery operating parameters, as discussed above is essential to the proper maintenance of the battery systems for system critical applications. Thus, in the event that an emergency power situation arises, the batteries in the system will be ready for use.
Periodic manual monitoring, as is the status quo in traditional systems can provide only an indication of the battery condition. However, the conclusions drawn from the data collected may only be valid at the time at which the data was gathered. These manual prior art systems, while capable of automatic measurements of battery condition still deposited the data into a database for manual analysis by an engineer. Furthermore, reports would need to be generated based on the data reviewed manually. Finally, when multiple battery systems were used, some of which have different manufacturers and the monitors that were deployed in the field were not of the same make and model, the data that is collected from each battery monitor would need to be manually compiled by the user to obtain a complete picture of the battery performance. Furthermore, the compilation of the data is typically limited to flat text files or, at best spreadsheets for performing more detailed analysis. Thus, the traditional methods of monitoring battery conditions are both expensive and time consuming.